beginner's questions: toothpaste and how many butane

[Wandering Daisy]

If you camp at a well used spot, spitting toothpaste all over creates an aesthetic mess. Do not spit all over leaves of brush. It leaves an unsightly white coating. Make a small hole away from camp, spit in it, and cover it up. If there is a fire ring with charcoal, spit in the pit and stir the coals. Charcoal is great for cutting down odors. Never spit near water sources, and definitely never directly spit in streams! Last year I saw two fellows literally brushing their teeth in the stream.

Bears are enticed by the smell and will bite the tube before they realize it is not food. Put toothpaste inside the bear cannister at night. Marmots can also be aggressive. They love the salty sweat on your pack straps and will chew up your pack at night- same for treking pole handles and straps. Hang these off the ground or bring inside the tent.

Being a neat and clean camper will reduce critter problems. Wash dishes after use. Do not throw food scraps near camp- pour out wash water well away from camp (again- NOT in the stream). Make a point of eating all food you cook - plan meals so there are no left-overs. Garbage also goes inside the bear cannister so it is best not to generate a lot of garbage. If you run across an established fire ring, stop and burn garbage occassionally and be sure to put the fire out thoroughly- douse with water and actually feel the coals with your fingers to be sure it is out. I do not eat inside my tent. I take a handkerchief a napkin and rinse it out after the meal. You may find that using a spoon vs. a "sporke" is neater. Also, if you use the freeze dried meals that you pour water in the packet- rinse out the packet before you put it in your garbage bag.

A mistake I still make is forgetting to check my pack pockets for trail snacks that I took out for the day and did not eat. Put any unused food or wrappers back in the bear can.

Bears are unpredictable. For the most part they will avoid you but treat every bear as a potential "bad boy". They need to fear humans- so if they come into camp make it obvious to them that they are not welcome.

[yosehiker]

To prevent leaving those toothpaste marks after I brush my teeth I just pee on the spot where I spit it out. I know this is rather male-centric, but it works well. Otherwise I would suggest rinsing thoroughly and use that rinse water to dilute the toothpaste or spit in a firering if available.

Also, I would hesitate against burning trash. While it may be obvious to members of this forum, but for whatever reason a lot of people don't know, or care, that foil or other metal doesn't burn. I see firerings all the time full of trash. Plus I think there is a reason we don't incinerate our trash in the 'real world'/front country as it pollutes. I wouldn't want to breathe in burning plastic, etc. If you are just burning paper or orgranic trash I think that is ok, but I think that is a fine line which is hard for many people to decipher and therefore should not be recommended at large.

[Wandering Daisy]

I repack all my food so my garbage only contains plastic bags and TP. I see no need to hover over the fire and breath plastic fumes. When the fire is out, if there are any globs of plastic remaining, I fish them out and put them in a bag. This reduces the trash. When you are out for 15 days straight, the amount of trash becomes significant and really starts to smell. For shorter trips (less than 5 days) then I carry it all out. Burning trash is one trash handling option. It is all a matter of judgement. I do not think there is a single answer. A hot fire actually will do a pretty good job of getting rid of trash.

[quentinc]

Plus I think there is a reason we don't incinerate our trash in the 'real world'/front country as it pollutes.

That's true, but I think burning wood is almost as bad. I never have a fire when I solo backpack. It's bad enough trying to inflate the Big Agnes; so nice not to have the wood gathering chore when I get into camp!

[guyd]

What brand/model stove are you planning on taking on your trip? Do you plan to heat water for one meal each day, or for more?

Thinking of having two stoves to speed overall preparation time: one Pocket Rocket and one Brunton Raptor (11,000 BTU)

Oatmeal +coffee/hot chocolate at breakfeast for five.
Breezer Bag Cooking recipies at supper +coffee/hot chocolate for five.

Thanks

[Snow Nymph]

I use Arm & Hammer Tooth Powder in the backcountry. Its light and doesn't leave a mess. Its been about 6 years since I backpacked, and I haven't seen the Tooth Powder around lately, but maybe online?

[bheiser1]

1) Methinks perchance you have some un-necessary fear of the bear. Respect is one thing, paranoia another. Think of brown bears as big , hungry, timid, sneaky dogs, hiding in the shadows, not as predatory ferocious beasts, and act/treat them accordingly. They are not after you/ will not bother you (unless provoked), in fact, you will be lucky/privileged, just to lay eyes on one, They generally fear man, are just looking to bag a quick meal, and from the easiest source available - could be you or could be the next campground up as they travel on their nightly rounds.
Keep all stored food in bear cans or bear boxes, open all pockets of your backpacks at night, and just spit the toothpaste out behind any convenient rock, just not close to the water. The bear is looking for thousands of calories, not spit. Do not worry about it.

Markskor, though that wasn't my post, I'll jump in here anyway. Speaking for myself , I'd say "we" (oops, "I", lol) have been pretty well trained by the mass media, the Park Service,and various others. We've been trained to believe that bears will open car doors with can-opener like paws, even for as little as a gum wrapper left inside.

With this in mind, it's not a big leap to imagine a bear being attracted to a spit of tasty minty-fresh toothpaste behind that rock near our tent...

Maybe it's only YV where this happens, but those images persist in our minds anyway ...

[rlown]

Yeah.. It doesn't happen just in the Valley. The HSC backpacker camps were notorious for prowling bears. It's been better lately, but.. Just spit your toothpaste down a gopher hole a little distance from camp.. works fine. Best bet is to be far away from larger established, smelly human infestations..

I snore like a chainsaw (or so i've been told. ) Maybe that combined with an empty pack at night keeps them away.. Still, I don't sleep, but that's not the bears' fault..

[AlmostThere]

Markskor, though that wasn't my post, I'll jump in here anyway. Speaking for myself , I'd say "we" (oops, "I", lol) have been pretty well trained by the mass media, the Park Service,and various others. We've been trained to believe that bears will open car doors with can-opener like paws, even for as little as a gum wrapper left inside.

You're talking to different people than I do. Some of the old timers I've talked to remember the days when bears would jump out of trees, not just to snag a hanging bag, but to fall through the tops of the old ragtop cars.

Bears do open car doors. Not just in Yosemite, either. Folks have told me about their parents' cabin in this or that east side location, where they had bear break ins. Bears have caused problems outside the national parks - more rarely, true. But they can make a significant amount of damage when they have a mind to. I visited a boy scout camp last weekend where the staff were setting up for the (late) camping season - they were working on fixing a window that a bear tore into, on the kitchen side of the mess hall - the bear had made himself to home, rummaging through everything, tho they had left very little in the way of food (cans in the pantry). Just a forgotten bag of trash.

Bears are smart critters, curious enough to spend a little time and energy getting into something to investigate if it shows promise. The California bears are timid enough that it's relatively easy to deal with them, fortunately. Just keep a clean camp, use the bear canisters where they are recommended, and respect their wildness and observe them from a safe distance.

[gary c.]

I think that if a bear is close enough to come into my camp because of the smell of spit tooth paste he is probably close enough to smell the whole tube and everything else in camp.

I tell everyone it smells like roses in my solo tent by the third morning but now you guys got me worried that I might wake up to a bear french kissing me for the taste of my minty fresh breath.